


Fetch - in three acts

by philippcarlyle



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Animals, Fluff, M/M, P. T. is a famous actor, Phil is a writer, Phil is clumsy, Work In Progress, and i am trying too, he tries, i might add other characters idk, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-11 12:04:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16475234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/philippcarlyle/pseuds/philippcarlyle
Summary: This is really just another AU. With some added furry friends aka the Corgi AU.





	1. First Act

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading xxx  
> Lovely beta was @silverlynxx my saviour and booty buddy <3

Loud and seemingly unstoppable barks greet Philip as he enters the living room with still wet hair.  
He grins and crouches down next to the sofa. Taking this as a cue, the fluffy creature approaches him, barking and waggling its stubby tail.

“What’s going on, you crazy boy? I’m gone for ten minutes and you yell the house down,” he playfully talks to the dog.

They face each other, and Philip sighs in surrender when the deep dark eyes blink at him and he barks one last time. He drops down cross-legged onto the carpet and lets the small dog snuggle up against his legs. He zips up the sweater he’d put on over his shirt after his shower; it’s a lazy day, and he likes his cosy, not very en vogue clothes, thank you very much.

His fingers thread through the black fur on the corgi’s back, and he can feel the animal relax. They stay on the floor for several minutes; Philip ruffles the long, soft fur. When he moves, the dog gets up as well and waddles over to the large glass door.

Philip stretches, and after he hears the satisfying ‘pop’ between his shoulders, he tends to the excited animal.

“You want to go out, Troy? Okay, okay.” He opens the glass door leading to the backyard and the corgi zooms out.

Philip shakes his head, a grin on his face, and leaves the door open for the dog to come back in. Or I could go outside too, he thinks. Philip leaves the living room and grabs his phone, along with the book he was reading, from the kitchen. Then he follows his pet through the glass door into the little garden. It was less of a garden and more of a narrow green stretch. Well, there was an apple tree and a hedge; the hedge fenced in his premises and effectively blocked the view of his neighbours. Thinking about it, Philip isn’t even sure if he has neighbours at the moment.

There was this old lady to his right, but he only saw her now and then. However, he has no idea regarding the adjacent place to his left. He could only ever see the rooftop, and had yet to see or hear any potential occupant.

Despite only being the beginning of spring, it’s warm as he steps out onto the terrace and into the sunlight. The terrace is occupied by a small iron table, on which he sets his book, and two chairs. Philip pulls one of the chairs out of the shade and gets comfortable, facing the green strip of grass. He finds a playlist on his phone to accompany his reading, but lets his eyes linger on the garden before he picks up his book again.

  
“Troy?” He whistles and claps his hands together once. “Where are you, boy? Come here!”  
He listens for the quiet padding, rustling grass, or the typical bark. Nothing. Philip sighs and switches off his music. He wouldn’t say his dog is not well-trained, rather he can be a bit stubborn.

  
Philip whistles again and gets out of his chair.

  
Luckily, his place doesn’t provide a lot of hiding places, and the corgi is easy to spot once you know where to look for him. Not today.

Philip stands in the middle of the grass strip and does a full rotation but his dog is nowhere to be seen. He crosses his arms, frustrated. Troy can’t be far away, he thinks; the dog loves his home, so maybe he got distracted by a bird or an interesting noise.

  
Philip looks down at his slippers, quickly making up his mind. He has to find his dog, and no one cares about how he looks anyway.

  
He pockets his phone and whistles once again, then he proceeds to call for his dog. Suddenly, he hears excited barking. Philip walks towards the noise and comes to stand in front of the hedge separating his property from the hidden house on his left.

  
“I knew I needed a fence...” He mutters, and thinks back on the conversation he had with his editor and good friend, Lettie.

  
“Philip, a fence might be safer.”

  
“Yeah but the hedge is already there, and fences are freaking expensive!”

  
“I know. But you’ve got a small dog, what if Troy runs off?”

  
“Oh, thank you for your trust in me. I can take care of my fluffball just fine.”

  
And he never had trouble with Troy running off before. Until today, that is.

  
The hedge hasn’t been cut in forever, so Philip has to stand on his tiptoes to look over it. He barely manages to do so and can only see...more of the neighbour’s house. And a few small bushes.

  
As if Troy heard Philip’s frustrated thoughts, he starts barking again. Philip may not be able to see him right now, but he knows his dog and how he sounds. He takes a determined step back. The ominous neighbour can’t be heard, so Philip assumes no one is home; even if they were, they were probably another elderly lady with a hearing aid and friendly but confused smile. He could deal with that.

  
Without hesitation – and grace – Philip leaps at the hedge and throws his right leg over it. The hedge, not being a brick wall or anything truly substantial, caves in, leaving Philip stuck awkwardly in its leafy depths. He rolls the rest of the way over, the branches supporting him whilst the tiny twigs pricked him like needles.

  
His landing is far from elegant, but aside from a few harmless scratches on his hands, legs, and cheek, he makes it safely to the other side. Brushing leaves and broken twigs from his clothes, Philip steps forward.

  
This is truly a garden, contrary to Philip’s often more brown-than-green-stretch of land.

  
Crisp green leads up to an old, well maintained house, the huge terrace decorated with all kinds of potted flowers. Small bushes, boxwood trees, Philip recognizes, are neatly trimmed and give the garden a somewhat “Alice in Wonderland” kind of look. Or rather, the Queen of Hearts.

  
Philip does not want to play croquet, he just wants his dog. He tears his gaze from the box trees and looks around. A wide, relieved grin spreads over his face when he finally sees the corgi running up to him. From his hiding place amidst the plants another creature follows.

  
Philip’s eyes widen when he spots the other, bigger dog.

  
“Troy, did you make a friend?” He asks when the corgi finally reaches him, barking happily. Troy lets his head be petted once, but then turns around and playfully approaches the golden Akita Inu.

  
They play beautifully together, and Philip is torn between ‘please, let’s get home we don’t live here, Troy’ and ‘aw, you guys are too cute’. With his focus entirely on the dogs, he doesn’t notice someone else approaching.

  
He jumps, startled, when a soft, deep laugh reaches his ears. He’s still at someone else’s place. Shit. Slowly, he turns to face what can only be the owner.

  
Oh god.

  
Philip’s heard about out-of-body experiences, but if it felt like this, it was worse than he had ever thought. The handsome stranger – who doesn’t look one bit like the Queen of Hearts – offers him the brightest smile and approaches Phillip and the dogs.

  
Philip’s eyes dart towards the unknown dog that has to live here, and then back towards the man who introduces himself now, still smiling. Still handsome. Philip can still see, can still hear, but finds he is suddenly unable to respond in any way. He’s pretty sure his mouth is hanging open.

  
“Hey! I was just looking for Logan, it seems he made a friend. I’m Phineas.”

  
Philip stares.

  
“So, you’re my neighbour? Your dog is adorable, and I’m glad he plays with Logan; my guy isn’t usually one to get along with others.”

  
He knows this man. He’s seen him before.

  
“Anyway, would you like a coffee? A cup of tea?”

  
Realization dawns on Philip and he stumbles back a bit. Phineas. As in – Phineas Taylor Barnum, the famous actor. Philip can’t wrap his head around the situation.

  
...

  
Philip sits in his living room, Troy lying on his back in front of him. Absentmindedly, Philip scratches the soft fur, his upper body bowed down to reach the small animal.  
“Oh man, why did I do that?” He wonders aloud, looking down at the dog. Troy stretches his short legs and rolls onto his side. Philip snorts and pats him one last time before he gets up.

  
His ears have cooled down from his embarrassment, and his hands aren’t shaking any more. Still, his clumsy exit was – well, clumsy. Awkward. Cringe worthy.

 

...

  
“Oh. Oh. No, thank you. Thank you so much, but I have to go. I didn’t mean to intrude, but you see, Troy – my dog – he ran off. So. Yeah.” Philip said and snatched his dog by his black collar.

  
He didn’t let Phineas say anything more – in his awfully deep, smooth, warm voice – and fled. The only good thing about the entire process of leaving was how the bigger dog – Logan, was it? – stayed at his master’s side while Troy commendably followed Philip’s hasty retreat.

  
Then came the hedge. Again.

  
Retrospectively he could have asked nicely and Phineas would have probably shown him out. But oh no, Philip had to leave as soon and as fast as possible. So the hedge it was. Philip laughs at his own absurdity.

  
Troy had cooperated, fortunately enough, and took his secret route through the wall of leaves and branches. Meanwhile, Philip jumped.

  
He can proudly say he didn’t roll over it like he did the first time. No, he leapt far enough to clear the hedge and land on all fours instead. Doesn’t matter. The man hadn’t see this mishap, so who cared? Philip certainly didn’t. Not at all.

  
The rest of the day passes by so fast that Philip isn’t tired when it reaches 1am, having spent the day inside and only letting Troy out in the garden where he could see him.  
Both of them eventually fall asleep in the living room, Troy on a fluffy pillow next to Phillip on the sofa while the forgotten TV played reruns of “The Magicians”.


	2. Second Act

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again beta'ed by my lovely @Silverlynxx

Philip has a meeting with Lettie the next day;  Charles, his friend and publisher, wants to join them too. Philip leaves Troyat home _–_ all doors firmly locked, and not daring to spare a look at the neighbouring houses when he gets his bike.

It’s a fifteen minute ride into the city centre and to the café Lettie suggested. Philip is prepared for a two hours talk about his new book, the other book he had planned, the things he had to do, shouldn’t do,  was obliged to do, and didn’t want to do. Ugh.

Are you thinking of writing him physically meeting with Lettie & Charles at the café, or just jumping straight in as you’ve done here?

Much to his surprise, their talk remains mainly positive. He didn’t expect Lettie to be rude or to push him, but he knows he has to get a grip,and Lettie was quite the force when she needed to be. His works are far from fruitful right now, and he can’t see that changing in the  immediate future. Charles suggested many times he go back to writing plays.

Philip refuses, again and again.

“The plays I’d _want_ to write would be as unsuccessful as my book is right now.” Books. But he doesn’t want to think about all his failures. “And I’m not going back to just writing for an audience,” he finishes. Lettie offers him a supportive smile. Charles sighs.

The topics involved publishing dates, editorial steps, and plans for future works. Philip can’t help but get distracted when he looks out of the window. Charles proceeds with some mood-lightening stories from past works, but Philip’s eyes are fixed on a gigantic poster on the other side of the street.

It promotes a new box-office hit playing at their local cinema _–_ with Phineas Taylor Barnum as the leading actor. God damn it. Philip shakes his head and nods along to Charles’ anecdote.

Finally back home, he cuddles Troy and gets himself a glass of orange juice. His liquor stays, purposefully ignored, in a cabinet far away from his other beverages.

He retrieves his laptop from the living room and gets comfortable at his often abandoned and cluttered desk. It was finally time to get some writing done.

When Troy barks, Philip lets him out and leaves the glass door a open for him, so the corgi could come back in when he wanted. He finally has an idea how to solve one of his major plot holes, and so doesn’t spare a thought to the dog-in-garden problem he had just had the day before. He starts writing.

 

* * *

 

Phineas paces through his kitchen, a frown on his face and his fingers twitching.

He can’t get that stunning man out of his head. How had he never seen him before? They were neighbours after all.

“You haven’t seen him either, hm?” He asks the akita that lies on the tiles. The dog barely lifts his head to show he’s paying attention. Phineas grins and stoops to scratch the dogs ear, then picks up his phone. He sends out a quick message to Charity to cancel their catching-up-on-each-other’s-lives coffee. He has a mission to attend.

“Logan, come here!” He calls as he heads for the double door that leads out to the generous garden.

The large fawn coloured dog gets up from where he rests and walks over slowly. They’d already been on their morning run, so the akita has no desire to leap at his owner or bounce towards the garden – for now.

Phineas needs him in exactly this mood for his plan. The dog is relaxed and attentive as they step outside, and Phineas retrieves a red ball from a box propped against the house. The box contains all kinds of playthings for the usually rambunctious dog, and this ball is one of his favourites.

Immediately Logan shuffles closer, his ears perked up. Phineas grins down at the dog and closes the door behind him. Together they make their way to the middle of the garden, Logan circling his owner excitedly and making little mumbling noises. Just perfect.

“Okay boy, fetch!” Phineas calls, and throws the toy for the first time. It lands behind the bushes and the dog sprints after it, his long legs carrying him fast towards the target. Proud, the akita runs back to Phineas, the ball securely in his snout.

“Well done, well done,” Phineas praises and gets the ball again. Logan sits in front of him, never letting the ball out of his deep black sight.

They repeat the game four more times, the dog still fully invested, and Phineas is sure – now is the time to try something else.

Hopefully his beautiful neighbour is home. He doesn’t even know his name.

Phineas throws the ball farther than the times before and it comes down on the other side of the hedge.Only a faint ‘thud’ announces its landing on the young man’s property.

“Oops,” Phineas mutters, “go, get it!” he tells Logan, who is already up and about to retrieve his toy. Hesitant, Phineas follows the large animal. Just because the corgi made its way over to his garden, doesn’t mean his dog can do the same.

Phineas reaches the hedge, his dog nowhere to be seen. A loud bark makes him chuckle. The lower bark is soon matched by excited howling that confirms his thoughts – his neighbour and his dog are at home.

Although his neighbour had come over – literally over _–_ the hedge, Phineas thinks it would be inappropriate of him to do the same. He decides to take a look first.

He’s not sure who the hedge belongs to. As wild and unkempt as it is, its presence seemed to be like that of a river, unquestioned. For all his time living here, he’d never felt the responsibility to trim it, or do more than water it from time to time when he did his plants. Apparently, his neighbour thought the same, and so the hedge had gotten a bit out of hand.

It’s nearly as tall as Phineas, and he has to stand on his tiptoes to see the other’s house and garden. He spots two empty chairs and a table, the apple tree, of which he usually just sees the crown of, and then the two dogs, forming a pile of paws, teeth, and waggling tails. The ball lies, abandoned, further away.

However, only the dogs seem to be outside, and Phineas will not climb over the hedge. It was adorable to see his neighbour leave like that, but it wasn’t very safe. Or comfortable, at least.

Phineas considers his options and comes to the conclusion that walking over and knocking on the man’s house like a normal human being would be the most logical one. He walks along the hedge to do just that, when he stumbles over some branches. They stand at odd angles from the hedge, but Phineas had never noticed them until now.

They reveal a gap that must have developed over time, the branches growing around the hole and creating a little tunnel. It would easily accommodate r small animals, and explains how the corgi got into his garden in the first place.

Phineas crosses his arms and regards the gap, estimates its width. He sighs and shakes his head.

“Oh, why not,” he mumbles, and gazes over the hedge’s edge once more. Still just the dogs playing, no human to be seen. Phineas threads a hand through his hair and crouches down. It’s a good thing he wore an older pair of jeans and a dark shirt, nothing too smart or precious.

“Oh well.” Thinking about it, it’s a surprise, neither of them had noticed this gateway before. Crouched down with his head bowed, Phineas barely fits through it, but finally emerges in the foreign garden. _What a strange experience._

The dogs promptly run up to him. Phineas has no time to get up and finds himself half pressed into the hedge, his lap full of dog. Logan stands between his legs, one paw resting on his thigh while he makes enthusiastic muttering noises. Phineas is sure his dog is telling him all about the corgi.

“Okay, thanks, would you get off me?” He requests, and gently pushes the large animal away. It causes the corgi to come closer, curious. Now both dogs stand in front of him, waiting for him to do something. Phineas disappoints them, and only provides a quick ruffle through their fur.

“Troy?! Troy, where are – oh!”

Phineas’ head snaps up and he scrambles to get to his feet. He has to grab Logan’s collar to stop the dog from jumping directly into his arms. Sometimes he wonders if his dog knows how big he is.

“Hi.”

“Hey, uhm-“ Phineas replies, and is as stunned as the man a few feet in front of him. His plan somehow didn’t include _how to approach his new neighbour_ once he kinda-actually-really-seriously trespassed.

“I assume you didn’t plan to come over like this?”

“Errr, no. It just seems that my dog really likes your dog. And, you know, he isn’t one to socialise a lot with other dogs or people, so – there’s something special here.”

His blue-eyed neighbour hums in acknowledgement and they look down at their pets. Logan had gotten free and rediscovered his ball, and now the dogs chased each other around the garden with the ball switching owner every few seconds.

“Well, I guess we can’t stand in their way then.”

Phineas shifts closer, clearly surprised by this answer. He smiles and offers the younger man his hand, as he wanted to yesterday. Now he can’t flee and leap over a hedge.

“Our introduction was somewhat frantic yesterday, don’t you think?”

“Oh, maybe...” Phineas’ smile softens when he sees a blush on the other man’s cheeks.

“I didn’t catch your name back then. I think you know who I am, but really, you don’t have to be uncomfortable around me.”

“Hah, don’t worry. I’m always awkward and self-conscious.”

Phineas laughs at that.

“I’m Philip. And I’m sorry I behaved so...strangely. I was a bit overwhelmed.” Philip. Phineas looks the other man up and down – it suits him.

“Please, don’t worry about it,” Phineas wants to reassure him. He can’t help but find his behaviour endearing, whether it was climbing over plants, apologizing for it right now, or just looking at him with a mixture of embarrassment and flirt.

“I’ll try” Philip chuckles, and gestures towards his house, “Can I get you anything to drink?”

Phineas is yet again reminded of yesterday. He’d asked Philip the same question, and the younger man had practically fled in horror. Today, however, there’s only a warm smile and rosy tinted cheeks. He decides he can live with this change as he  nods.

“Sure, thank you.” He answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> If you have any wishes or ideas for the final chapter, please let me know <33

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading until the end!  
> I live for kudos and comments :D


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